Hand-stamp



UNITED STATES PTENT BEIGE..

STEPHEN P. RUGGLES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAND-STAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,470, dated August 21, 1855.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, STEPHEN P. RUGGLES, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hand Stamps for Post-Office and other Purposes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part thereof, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view, and Fig. 2 represents a vertical central section through the same.

Similar letters where they occur in the two figures denote like parts.

The nature of my invention relates lirst to the manner of connect-ing a plate to the handle by means of a screw cap to facilitate a Achange of plates, also in holding the ball to the socket by a pin and its accompanying parts to prevent the spring from coming out.

A represents the handle of the hand stamp which may be made of wood or any other suitable material, and into this handle is inserted a shank piece B, having a collar C thereon, to keep the shank from being driven into the wood by the blows in using the stamp. The shank piece extends down below the wood, and terminates in a semispherical end D, which lits into a similar concavity in the upper part of the bed plate E.

a, is a flange rising around the concavity in the bed plate and through a hole in this flange, and a large hole c in the shank piece passes a pin e, which holds the bed plate to the shank, through by a kind of ball and socket-joint, on which it may turn. f, are other flanges on the upper side of the bed plate, outside of that a, through which holes Z, Z, are made, capable of allowing the pin c yto pass through and be inserted in its place as seen in Fig. 2. A coiled spring 2 has its upper end incased by the ring z', which bands the lower end of the handle, and its lower end rests between the flanges a., f, on the top of the bed plate, so that said spring is prevented from jumping out of its place, while it holds the bed plate always at right angles with the shank, until a blow is struck to give an impression, when the spring yields, and allows the plate to conform to the surface upon which it is brought down, whether that surface be parallel to the line of motion of the descending stamp or not. The distance that the shank is let into the handle is optional with the maker, as its object is only to give the whole thing stability enough to withstand the service to which the stamp is to be applied.

F, is an electrotype plate upon which the letters, characters, or ornament to be used in the stamp is placed. This plate is embedded in a steel, or other hard metal cap m, on the upper part of which is cut a female screw, which runs onto a male screw cut on the bed plate E, which holds the electrotype firmly to said bed.

Gr, are the removable parts or pieces of the electrotype, as for instance in a post office or other stamp in which the date, or other central figures or characters, are to be removed, and replaced by others. These pieces G, are made wedge shaped, with the base of the wedge neXt the bed plate E, against which they are firmly brought up by the screw cap when it is run on, thus giving them a firm support against said bed plate, while they are rigidly held in place, without any screws, pins, wedges, or other1 detachable devices which are liable to be lost, mislaid, or worn out. By unscrewing the cap, the pieces G, may be readily removed and replaced by others, when necessary. The pin e, also serves, besides the holding of bed plate to the handle, to prevent the spring from being pulled out, by any one testing the strength of t-he stamp, by drawing the bed plate from the handle, and also prevents the bed plate from turning around when the cap is being screwed on, or off, and t-hus a perfect ball and socket joint is maintained without allowing the parts moving on it to come apart.

Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, what I claim therein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isl. In a hand stamp, the connecting of an electrotype plate to the handle of the stamp, by means of a screw cap as described, for the purpose of facilitating the removing and replacing of the electrotype or portions thereof as set forth.

2. I also claim the combination of devices for holding the bed plate E, to the shank B, pin e passing respectively through them, as so as to preserve the ball and socket or yieldset forth and described.

ino' joint prevent them from bein@ Separted, aild to keep the coiled Spriong in STEPHEN P' RUGGLES 5 place, the saine consisting of J[he flanges a, f, lWitnesses:

on the bed plate With the holes therein, the THOS. B. HALL,

large opening c, in the shank piece, and the HORACE B. SARGENT. 

